Beautiful Souls (32 page)

    
              “Yeah, that’d be great actually. I think my Superman strength has started to wear off.”

    
              “You know how to ride?” Leo asked, as we walked back to our horses holding hands.

    
              “Um, not really,” Luke answered.

    
              Leo and I just looked at each other and laughed silently at our private joke. Not only did Luke not know how to ride, but he’d be riding bareback.

    
              “Oh, this is going to be fun,” I giggled.

    
              “Think you can handle her?” Leo motioned toward a bucking Cleo. She had always bucked out of pure excitement whenever she saw Leo approach, but I wasn’t going to let Luke in on that fact and apparently neither was Leo.

    
              Luke’s eyes widened at the sight of her, but he played it cool. “Sure, no problem.”

    
              Leo and I eyed each other again as we approached the horses.

    
              “Okay, you’ll be riding Cleo, and Becca and I will take Sabastian together since he’s larger. Need help getting up?”

    
              “No, I think I’ve got it,” Luke answered, but as he stood side by side with Cleo he must have changed his mind. “Uh, maybe a hand up would be good.”

    
              Leo smirked and walked around next to Luke, laced his fingers together, bent down to accept Luke’s muddy boot onto the palms of his hands, then heaved him onto Cleo’s back.
Wow, first try
, I thought. He must still have a bit of Superman strength left after all.

    
              “All right, we’ll just take this slow,” Leo spoke, as he hopped up to Sabastian’s back.

    
              Will that ever stop being so damn sexy? My entire body awakened at Leo’s touch as he locked his hand around my forearm, simultaneously yanking my arm up as I leapt from the ground toward Sabastian’s high back. I landed on my stomach then quickly swung my leg around, sat up, and pressed the front of my body against Leo’s sweaty, muscular back, my legs straddling his. The sensation was almost too much.

    
              We three all rode off in the direction of home, retracing our very same path that brought us here. That seemed like ages ago.

Chapter 14.

Back To Good

good

/good/

Adjective

To be desired or approved of.

Noun

That which is morally right; righteousness.

Adverb

Well.

    
             
Luke insisted on walking home alone --- we still didn’t know where that home was located or what it consisted of --- after the three of us arrived back to Leo’s barn. He assured us that the solitary confines of an empty house, and a philosopher’s walk to get there, was exactly what he needed right now; time and space to contemplate the whereabouts of The Book of Magic. Leo and I gave Luke his space, thanked him for everything. Without a second’s hesitation, he was on his way.

    
              The first half of the school day was already over, so I decided to skip the rest. Leo and I spent the warm, sun-drenched afternoon tending to the horses. When all was done that could be done, we lounged near the edge of the barn, enjoying the serene country view and smelling the sweetness of new shoots of bright green grass.

    
              We became acquainted with one another again --- the newness of Spring, Leo and I --- after a long, stale and lonely winter. I had missed Leo so much, and this. All of this. I needed my best friend back in my life.

    
              We talked about everything: his mom and how he’d been coping with his dad the last few months, my mundane life without him in it, and I explained more in depth about how I had come to acquire The Book of Magic. I told him all about what the ancient, dusty pages contained. I actually confessed about the anonymous letters I’d been receiving monthly, a total of eight now. And we talked about Zoey, too. Leo confessed his sadness over killing her --- even though we both felt it was self-defense --- and his relief that she was actually gone and out of our lives forever.

    
              I couldn’t believe that I’d never told Leo about The Book, the letters, or my visions. They were all subjects I hadn’t figured out, so without knowing how to explain them properly, along with Leo pretty much walking out of my life --- for understandable reasons --- I simply hadn’t shared these parts of my life with him. But it was time to change all of that. There was so much I still didn’t know and that still freaked me out, but it was time for the truth.

    
              This line of thinking made me curious, sparking questions about all that I’d seen that day. Entertaining as the Superman spell had been --- and it was quite hilarious to watch, regardless of the circumstances as to which it had been used --- I hadn’t grasped the concept or reasoning behind why Leo and Luke felt the need to heave potentially back-breaking boulders onto the body, when it had already been buried six feet under.

    
              I contemplated the best approach to bring up the subject with Leo. “So, loved seeing you all buff and Superman strong today,” I grinned.

    
              “Oh, yeah?” Leo replied, his twinkling eyes told me that he wouldn’t mind hearing more.

    
              I sat completely still for a moment. My focus had shifted momentarily from inquiring about the burial ritual to full-on admiration of Leo. His eyes were welcome waves of teal waters, and I wanted to run my lips across the faint stubble that had grown from his chiseled jaw.

    
              My lips quivered, and my nose twitched. I couldn’t place his new smell. He used to smell of fresh air, his familiar musky cologne, and something else indistinguishably delicious that I had always chalked up to simply being essence of Leo. All of those same smells still existed, but now when I breathed in his intoxicating scent, there was something else added to the decadent mixture.

    
              Leo, himself, seemed to be slightly different, as well. Not much, but there was definitely a hint of his character that had changed. Not necessarily bad, just different. Perhaps the life-altering events of the past few months ran so deeply into his soul --- and how could they not --- that even his body chemistry had been slightly altered, too.

    
              Leo caught me staring, and I quickly turned my head away; the beautiful image of his handsome face still burned in my brain.

    
              “Why did you have to cover the body with boulders?” I asked, attempting to mask my embarrassment.

    
              “That’s a Wizard thing.” Leo had my full attention, and I listened attentively. “The rocks are to ensure that the body isn’t found or moved…magically, you know.”

    
              “How does that work?” I shook my head, still not fully comprehending. A vital part of his explanation on reasoning had been left out.

    
              “Spells exist, well, more in the category of hexes, actually, that can call a body from its grave and put life back into it.”

    
              “No way. So, someone could bring Zoey back?” I asked, completely and utterly astonished, not to mention fearful. Zoey was finally out of my life and could no longer torment me or Leo; I never wanted to deal with any of that again. She reeked havoc in our lives and changed Leo’s forever. The bitch deserved what she got, and I wanted to make sure that it stayed that way.

    
              “A very powerful Wizard could so, in a manner of speaking…yes.”

    
              “That’s a very scary thought.”

    
              “Yeah, it is. You need to understand, though, that I chose my words to describe that hex very carefully. I said it would put life back into the body, I didn’t say it would bring Zoey back to life. What she would come back as would be very dark, almost zombie-like, and she would be ready for revenge.”

    
              “I’m almost sorry I asked. I’m sure I just signed on to a night full of nightmares for prying into this one.”

    
              Leo’s lips twitched and a grin grew across his beautiful face. “Want me to sleep over and scare away the bad dreams?” Leo showed off his irresistible crooked grin with an added edge of ornery wickedness.

    
              I slapped his arm playfully, then regained my breathing pattern after it had been so pleasantly interrupted.

    
              “I’m serious,” he laughed. “Remember? We used to have sleepovers…oh, like, ten years ago. I say we revisit our more youthful years.”

    
              “Oh? So you want to play tag, and watch cartoons, and get sick on too much candy, do you?”

    
              “Well,” he wrinkled his face, in an adorable way that only Leo could pull off, and considered the possibilities. “Maybe I could find some
new
activities to fill our night,” he winked.

    
             
God, I missed this
.

    
              “I’m sure you could,” I teased. “How about dinner at my house tonight?”

    
              “That’s not new,” Leo protested.

    
              “Let’s just postpone those ‘
new’
activities till a later date, and we’ll start off tonight with dinner instead. Maybe we can just hang out in my room for a little while afterward,” I returned his flirtatious wink with one of my own, somewhat mocking him.

    
              I knew without a doubt that I wanted what Leo was proposing, but with us just starting to get back on track, I didn’t think it was the best time to be moving into new territory.

    
              “Why, Ms. Olson, was that an invitation?” he quizzically asked in the most playful and knee-quivering tone possible. Leo stood, put a hand out to help me to my feet --- still such a gentleman --- and straddled my feet with his. He pressed his warm palms against the small of my back, pulled me slowly closer until every inch of our bodies touched, then he kissed me as if our lives depended on it.

    
              I lost myself in the kiss and could’ve sworn that I even blacked out, yet when the kiss was over I pried my eyelids open and realized that I remained standing. Leo smiled, and at this moment, all felt right with the world once again.

    
              “Why, Mr. McMyllin,” I began to answer. “Yes, that was most definitely an invitation…to dinner.”

    
              “Okay, okay,” he laughed.

    
              It was so good to hear him laugh again.

    
              “I’ll be over for dinner later. What time?”

    
              “Um, I don’t know. How about six?”

    
              “Sounds good. Can you do me one favor, though?”

    
              “Depends,” I smirked.

    
              “Can we just keep it all strictly human tonight, please? I could really use a night of how life used to be. You know, no magical problems to be hashed out or supernatural ramifications to consider. Just for one night?”

    
              “Sure, of course. That sounds nice, actually.”

    
              “Good.”

    
              “Agreed.”

    
              “And we’ll tell our parents about Zoey, and Luke, and The Book tomorrow, all right?”

    
              “Shit, I almost forgot about that.”

    
              “Tomorrow?”

    
              “Tomorrow.”